Learner of the year ...

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Engineering isn't, "male dominated" because we run the women off with torches and pitchforks, it's because they don't try to become engineers.
Congrats to one that tried!
 

crutschow

Joined Mar 14, 2008
34,283
Engineering isn't, "male dominated" because we run the women off with torches and pitchforks, it's because they don't try to become engineers.
At the risk of sounding sexist, I think that there are also fewer women engineers because, on the average, there are fewer women then men who have an innate curiosity about science and technology (I was fairly old before I realized my intense curiosity about such matters was an exception compared to the average person of either sex).
But that's just my opinion.
That being said, I have worked with, and worked on engineering projects headed by, several very good women engineers.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I think that there are also fewer women engineers because, on the average, there are fewer women than men who have an innate curiosity about science and technology
I believe you're correct. I also believe I was whining about low achievers blaming everybody but themselves for the choices they made. The excuse that, "Other people have done this before I even tried, but most of them weren't the same (sex, color, religion, etc.) as me, therefore I can't do it." grinds my gears. There are good engineers of every size, shape, and color.

Here is one interesting study,
"men continue to dominate the upper echelons of things like mathematics, physics, and chess."

There's that word again.:mad: One definition of, "dominate" is, "the forcible control of others". This casts a distasteful and incorrect shadow on the simple fact that more men than women got involved in the sciences...so far. The fact that somebody else did it first does not stop the following generations of people from performing the same quality of education and work. Pretending it does, annoys me.
 

Thread Starter

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
@#12

from Merrian-Websters
Full Definition of dominate
transitive verb

1: rule, control <an empire that dominated the world>
2: to exert the supreme determining or guiding influence on <the ambition that has dominated his life>
3: to overlook from a superior elevation or command because of superior height or position <a hill that dominates the town>
4a : to be predominant in <sugar maples dominate the forest>
b : to have a commanding or preeminent place or position in <name brands dominate the market>
This dictionary lists the definitions from earliest to latest. With four being the contemporary definition, 4 applies. Of course, when someone uses the earlier definitions, arguments ensue.
 

Sinus23

Joined Sep 7, 2013
248
#12 I get what you mean. The head of our electronics department was/is female( in my school). How did she get there? By being better than the competition. In a small country you can only wonder the statistical probability of that happening. But she won fair and square(no sarcasm at all)
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
The head of our electronics department was/is female( in my school).
I wish I had, by luck alone, been assigned to the female chemistry teacher in college. The male teacher enjoyed humiliating students, as if seeking to eliminate any future competition for his job. The female surely would have had a different approach. Simply a lack of desire to destroy the light in each student would have made all the difference for me.
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
I wish I had, by luck alone, been assigned to the female chemistry teacher in college. The male teacher enjoyed humiliating students, as if seeking to eliminate any future competition for his job. The female surely would have had a different approach. Simply a lack of desire to destroy the light in each student would have made all the difference for me.

That destroy the light before it catches things on fire and goes mentality of others has been my #1 stumbling block in most every aspect of my life. Especially job and work related.
Too many times I just did what I enjoyed for the sake of doing it without second thought as to how it made me look only to be ran off because some manager saw me as a threat to his job despite me having zero interest in ever taking it from him. :mad:

Just let me do my job and be happy with doing it and you will never have to worry about me taking yours. :(
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Too many times I just did what I enjoyed for the sake of doing it without second thought as to how it made me look, only to be ran off because some manager saw me as a threat to his job, despite me having zero interest in ever taking it from him.
Yeah...most people don't understand: I always surpass my teachers but that doesn't mean I want their job.:(
 

Sinus23

Joined Sep 7, 2013
248
I wish I had, by luck alone, been assigned to the female chemistry teacher in college. The male teacher enjoyed humiliating students, as if seeking to eliminate any future competition for his job. The female surely would have had a different approach. Simply a lack of desire to destroy the light in each student would have made all the difference for me.
Females are very competitive ( how they direct that is another matter) However most of the time that I've had a female "overlord" They have been ones of the nicest bosses I've ever had.

But they have all acted like men when it becomes being"professional"(It's a mans world...) So in short it's like being told what to do by a person, that you do not feel like going Genghis Khan on;)

Too many times I just did what I enjoyed for the sake of doing it without second thought as to how it made me look only to be ran off because some manager saw me as a threat to his job despite me having zero interest in ever taking it from him. :mad:

Just let me do my job and be happy with doing it and you will never have to worry about me taking yours. :(
Yeah the competition becomes real old, very, quick. Note my Genghis Khan comment:eek:
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering programs are favored by women for some reason. These programs are approaching 50% women in most Midwest (USA) schools. Some years, some classes are more than 50% women.
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering programs are favored by women for some reason. These programs are approaching 50% women in most Midwest (USA) schools. Some years, some classes are more than 50% women.
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
That's because they are on a quest to design the perfect chocolate and have it in the perfect size of candybar to fit their every and ever changing moods. ;)
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
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GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
That's because they are on a quest to design the perfect chocolate and have it in the perfect size of candybar to fit their every and ever changing moods. ;)
You and your preconceived notions need to get out more. There are some fine young engineers with "the knack" that make me feel comfortable that progresses on technology will continue. One young woman's professor told me a story how she got a $100k "bonus" at the end of an internship for solving a brownout issue in a geography-constrained region of Eastern PA. They didn't have funding to hire her but they found so much value in her and what she taught that they drained their consultant budget to pay her.

She didn't accept an offer from my company. She is doing very well.
 
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